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Billy Bob ends Canadian tour

Billy Bob Thornton and his band the Boxmasters, after being booed by angered Toronto fans, have dropped off the two remaining Canadian dates of Willie Nelson's tour.

By Iain MarlowAndrew ChungStaff Reporters

Fri., April 10, 2009

Maybe the mashed potatoes don't want any gravy.

Billy Bob Thornton and his band the Boxmasters, after being booed by Toronto fans angered by his likening Canadian audiences to "mashed potatoes with no gravy" in a bizarre interview with the CBC, have dropped off the two remaining Canadian dates of Willie Nelson's tour – Montreal tonight and London tomorrow tonight.

Reached last night by the Star, Thornton's publicist said cancelling had nothing to do with Thornton's reception in Canada after the interview.

"It is absolutely not because of the CBC interview. One of the band members and several of the crew have the flu and need a couple of days off to recuperate," said Arnold Robinson, of Rogers and Cowan.

"Billy does not have the flu. The band is only concerned about giving the audience the best show possible, and when one of them is down with the flu, they can't do that."

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"As Billy said before and during the show last night, he loves Canada," Robinson added.

Willie Nelson's publicist Elaine Shock did not want to offer any comment from Nelson, saying the announcement on Nelson's official website about The Boxmasters' departure was a statement.

"This is a Billy Bob thing and not a Willie thing," Shock said.

Most people attending the Nelson concert last night in Montreal weren't aware Thornton has abandoned the tour. But the overwhelming sentiment was that they weren't missing much. When it was announced that Thornton was no longer in the lineup, which also included Ray Price, there was loud applause, according to several concertgoers interviewed.

"We don't appreciate as Canadians to be treated like that," said Larry Paquette, of Magog, Que.

"He's just another actor, no big loss there," said Paul Schmieder, complete in open-collared shirt and cowboy hat.

Wendy McLoughlin called Thornton a "baby" for not showing up. She noted that Billy Bob would have seen in Montreal – widely considered Canada's biggest party city – that "we're the gravy!"

"It's cowardly," echoed Olivia Chia, visiting from Vancouver. "If things don't go his way, it's not his fault." She said that Ghomeshi was justified in giving context to the interview.

The CBC interview with arts and culture program Q this past week veered at times into the absurd, with Thornton refusing to answer questions and becoming increasingly belligerent.

Jian Ghomeshi, Q's host, made reference to Thornton's long, award-winning acting career in his introduction to the show, something he had apparently been told not to do by Thornton's cohorts.

Speaking at Toronto's Massey Hall Thursday, Thornton told the crowd that Ghomeshi, whose name Thornton said he couldn't remember, was an "a--hole."

"I sat down and talked with this guy," Thornton said from the stage. "He and his producers say, 'We promise you we won't say that' (meaning references to Thornton's acting career). The very first thing they said was that... If you look someone in the eyes and promise them something, and you don't do it, you don't get the interview."

This joust at Ghomeshi, who was roundly praised across the web for his calm, measured approach to Thornton's on-air sulking, was greeted by the Massey Hall audience with jeering and shouts of "Here comes the gravy!"

Reviews of The Boxmasters performance were highly unfavourable. The Star's Greg Quill wrote: "It's unfortunate that wannabe country-rocker Billy Bob Thornton's headline-grabbing flame-out on CBC Radio warrants a top-of-the-story reference in a review of a concert to which he contributed nothing of musical value."

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